Not All Was Lost in The Great White North

A winter overlanding trip to the far reaches of Fort Severn, Ontario consisted of harsh weather and a few surprises.

by

Words by Wes Branson

There’s no doubt that most overlanders have at one point looked at a map and wondered what regions are less travelled or travelled at all. One such area I learned about was Fort Severn, ON, a rural community on the coastline of Hudson Bay that’s considered one of the most northerly Cree settlements in the province.

My desire to check out the area hatched a plan to take an extensive winter overland journey to the area via a rural route called the Wapusk Trail, a seasonal service road that leads from Gillam, MB, to Fort Severn that’s only open a few weeks of the year. Once out of Ontario, the trip included a number of stops including Winnipeg and the village of Shamattawa.

In addition to earning bragging rights of overloading to a northern region few have visited, the trip provided a chance to take my new Ram Power Wagon on a shakedown run. Since this is not the kind of trip to do solo, I invited a friend of mine Kevin - who was visiting from the UK - to come along. After meeting him in Toronto and with the Ram fuelled and loaded ready to go, we made our way out of the city limits, driving northwest for some serious road-worthy travel.

It took a few days to get to Winnipeg and another 11 hours of driving north to Gillam where the provincial highway ended and the winter service roads began. This Northern Manitoba community has all of the essential commercial amenities to effectively serve the surrounding communities but has little in the way of comforts. It didn’t help that it was February.

After arriving and staying in one of the few hotels in Gillam, we woke early to -37°C (-34.6°F ) conditions and realized the only gas station in town opened at 9:00-ish. Fueling the Power Wagon is common practice with the 6.4 L Hemi’s thirst for gasoline. Once it was gassed up, I pulled the rig’s manual transfer case lever into four-wheel high and we drove east towards the Wapusk Trail.

The Wapusk is a rough east-west winter road that’s used by transport trucks. The route we were on to Shamattawa (where we would access the Wapusk) was also rough and alternated between jarring corrugations and rolling undulations between 1 to 1.5 m (3 to 5 ft) high. To put it mildly, our progress was slow and even though the conditions were freezing, the weather was sunny with bright blue skies, which kept our spirits high.

Every few hours we encountered tanker trucks that travelled together. It was fascinating watching them twist and heave over the bumps.  Other than trucks, we saw only a few other travellers and this region would not be the greatest place to break down. However, the run went well and we eventually reached Shamattawa - eight hours later.

Shamattawa is a frontier town and only accessible from Fort Severn by the trail during the few short weeks that it’s open. The only other way the rest of the year is by plane. While fueling the Power Wagon, the gas attendant asked where we were going. After replying we were going to Fort Severn, she explained the road crew hasn’t cleared the trail yet. What?  Sure enough, when we arrived where the trail should have started, it was unplowed and unaccessible. Stunned and without saying a word, we drove back to Gillam.

Extensive overland trips on routes less travelled such as the Wapusk Trail require extensive planning, and sometimes there are still surprises. Considered the longest winter road in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records (as of 2004) and a route sometimes explored by adventurous outdoor enthusiasts, there was some information available including the dates it would be open. I even spoke to hotel staff in Fort Severn and Gillam and they confirmed the road would be accessible during our visit. Although we didn’t make it to our final destination to explore the terrain, view northern wildlife, and experience the culture,  we made it this far so not all was lost and the trip was still an adventure.

As we drove back to Gillam, darkness was falling with the temps dipping to as low as -40° C. Despite the shimmering, dancing Northern Lights in a star-filled sky, the aftermarket light bars I installed on the Ram proved invaluable driving along the dark route that was at times flanked by tall standing black spruce and jack pine forests.

Arriving in Gillam around midnight, we realized the town was shut down until morning - including the gas station - forcing us to resort to a portion of the 473 L (125 gal) of reserve fuel we had in jerry cans. Other equipment we brought, which are recommended for an extensive trip, included survival gear, a Delorme inReach satellite receiver, recovery equipment as well as spare tires,  and essential engine fluids.

As we pressed on to Thompson, MB, we collapsed in a local motel and after some much-needed rest, we made it to Winnipeg and enjoyed some downtime at the Fort Garry Hotel. As we sat at the lobby bar, we toasted to our slight misadventure but we were already discussing plans for our next overland expedition.